UTICA, NY – The Utica College Baseball team will face elimination later today in their third Empire 8 tournament appearance. The No. 25 Ithaca Bombers got a combined four hitter from pitchers Emmett Dunn and Christian Lalomia, and broke open a 2-0 game with a three run fifth as they topped Utica 5-0 in an opening round game at Freeman Field in Ithaca, NY.
The loss in the double elimination tournament puts fourth-seeded Utica in the elimination bracket. Utica will play the loser of the second game currently in progress as of this writing between Fisher and Stevens at approximately 4 p.m. today. The winner of that game would progress to Friday, and the non-advancing team would see their season come to a close.
The Pioneers fell to 15-23 in the matchup.
Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) led Utica with a pair of singles, while
Charles McAllister (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) added a hit and did not fail to reach base in his three plate appearances.
Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) allowed five runs on nine hits and fanned four while he took the loss, and
Brendon Sarnowski (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) came on to pitch a pair of scoreless relief innings.
The day started off well enough for Utica as freshman
Zach McGettigan (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) led off the ballgame with a bunt single, but Ithaca hurler and Empire 8 Pitcher of the Year Emmett Dunn was otherwise tough to handle going forward. The Bomber pitcher got out of that inning, and limited Utica in his eight scoreless innings on the mound. He held Utica to three hits in that time, and Utica did not make the most of its few scoring opportunities as four runners were stranded in scoring position.
As Dunn operated smoothly, the Bombers steadily built a modest advantage that would be good enough to prevail. Ithaca scored their first run on a wild pitch with Webb Little crossing the plate in the first, and plated a second on a Cam Fuoti RBI single that scored Little again in the third inning.
The big inning for the Bombers came in the fifth. After leadoff man Garrett Snyder was mowed down on strikes for the second of three times by Baur, the Bombers strung together a bevy of productive at-bats to pull away. Little singled to start the rally, followed by a walk to Adam Gallagher. Sam Little's RBI double brought home Little to make the score 3-0, and a sacrifice fly later knocked in Gallagher. The third run was plated when Sam Little was singled home by Buzz Shirley.
Those three runs built a lead that would remain unchanged the rest of the way. The Pioneers had multiple threats late that they were unable to capitalize on.
Charles McAllister (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) advanced all the way to third in the eighth inning, but a double play defused that opportunity. In the ninth,
Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) and
Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) stood on second and first with a walk and single respectively, but the Pioneers' final two hitters went down in order as LaLomia finished off the shutout for Ithaca. Meanwhile, the Bombers were stalled out offensively by the combined work of Baur and Sarnowski, who held the lid on tight on a potent Ithaca offense and prevented the Bombers from making any additional progress.
The Pioneers are now 1-6 all-time in Empire 8 tournament games, and will seek a second win this afternoon.
